Market Test Results Confirm the Settlement Agreement between ČEZ and the European Commission

Comments made by third parties under the market test have shown no need to materially change the commitments proposed by ČEZ to the European Commission in June this year. Under the Settlement Agreement, ČEZ undertakes to sell one of five specific power plants with an installed capacity of at least 800 MW. The European Commission can be expected to make its final and legally binding decision in the matter in late November.

“The comments received by the European Commission from various corporations as part of its market test, which we have available now, will not affect our commitments we have proposed and presented to the European Commission,” says Alan Svoboda, Sales Division Director. ČEZ and the European Commission have in detail discussed all relevant comments and have identified no new aspects that have not yet been known or considered in the proposal. “We have discussed specific technical details, such as the heat handover point, cooling water supply, grid connection technical parameters, CO2 allowance allocation, and many others. Not even after the discussions have we found any disparities; we have only extended our proposal with more detailed explanations and descriptions,” Svoboda adds. The updated proposal is now going to undergo an internal approval process in the European Commission. The procedure is the same as in all previous settlement procedures in the energy sector (which concerned GDF, RWE, E.ON and others).

As part of the Settlement Agreement, which aims to increase competition in the market, ČEZ offered one of its following five power plants for sale: Počerady, Chvaletice, Tisová with Mělník 3, and Dětmarovice. “We are currently receiving offers, and then we will decide which one we will sell. It may also happen that we will sell more power plants if the offers are interesting. The decision should be made by the end of the year,” says Pavel Cyrani, Strategy Division Director. This step is also consistent with ČEZ’ strategy to operate just low-emission, high-efficiency power sources in the long run. “We will be able to use the freed capital, which will thus be available to us, to pursue our new strategic priorities, such as developing regional energy projects and renewable power sources,” Cyrani explains.

The investigation based on a suspected illegal conduct allegedly aimed at limiting competition in the wholesale market with electricity and coal was initiated by the European Commission in November 2009. By presenting abundant evidence, ČEZ successfully rebutted all major charges brought against it by the Commission. Subsequently, an investigation continued on the grounds of barriers allegedly raised by our company to the construction of a new coal power plant by Mostecká uhelná by acquiring additional capacity on the Výškov transmission node for the Počerady combined cycle power plant. ČEZ plans to launch the live operation of this power plant next year already.